


Tales of Justice

by Shelaar (JonathanAnubian)



Series: Starlight AUs [6]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Adoption, Amnesia, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27242395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JonathanAnubian/pseuds/Shelaar
Summary: The ongoing tales of Justice Squad and their mascot- a young boy with oddly colored eyes named Justus who was adopted by the squad's Sergeant.A 'What if' story for Haati.
Series: Starlight AUs [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727944
Kudos: 12





	Tales of Justice

Another planet, another town, another battlefield strewn with the bodies of the innocent. Sgt. Lawrence Armaan grimaced at the squelch of soft silt underfoot. The rain hadn't let up for even a moment the entire campaign and now mud rivers were flowing through the camp they'd set up a tenday ago. Some days it just seemed like this war was never going to end. "Sergeant!" Turning he lowered his gun when he recognized the man as Private Bellouse.

"Report." He barked as the young man stopped nearby, hands on his knees and gasping for breath. Running through the thick sludge was enough to sap any man's strength.

"There's been an attack on a nearby village, you're needed at HQ." Cursing under his breath he hurried to the command tent, not surprised in the least when he found the other Sergeants already in attendance.

"Sergeant Armaan, I want your squad ready to go as soon as possible. Sergeants Kendall and Avith will assist you." There was no real time for a plan as they scrambled to the transport.

"Make sure your rejects don't get in my way." Growled Tylar Avith as he passed. Lawrence gave the cathar a toothy grin in response.

"Maybe if you focused more on helping instead of chasing glory your team wouldn't bungle into our ops as often." Sergeant Savren Kendall eyed them both icily as she let out an offended sniff. He was fairly certain she muttered 'idiots' before turning to regard her own squad. Lawrence left her alone, he had no beef with Spear Squad. Just Avith and his Claw Squad. The male cathar didn't care about civilian casualties and it caused a lot of friction between Claw and Lawrence's Justice.

Landing in a clearing just outside the village he could already smell the acrid scent of smoke on the breeze and wondered just what kind of disaster they were walking into. The planet itself had a few surprises when they'd first arrived, a thriving slave trade being one of them. He feared what kind of fresh hell they'd be walking into. "Justice, form up. Keep your eyes open, we don't want to fire on any surviving civilians." His men answered affirmatively and he gave the other two squad Sergeants a parting nod.

It was just as bad as he'd thought it would be. Houses completely collapsed, some still on fire despite the rain, with great holes in the street where explosives had been set off. The place was silent as a grave, save for the beating of the rain against his helmet, and he motioned for his squad to split into teams of two and carefully search what was left of the nearby buildings.

Each house they cleared, or pile of rubble in some cases, they marked with signs. Two bodies, no survivors, hazardous. Four bodies, no survivors, hazardous. On and on they went and with each new grave they discovered he felt his chest tighten with dread. There had to be someone alive, someone left to save. It was an almost desperate plea, one he didn't voice aloud.

Entering a nearly intact building he motioned for Levett to stand watch and headed inside. Flipping on the night vision he swept through what looked to be some sort of clinic. With each body he found, hacked to pieces, shot, crushed beneath a broken beam, he felt himself losing hope. Then he heard it. A sort of dragging sound followed by a low pained sob.

Careful of any tricks he steeled himself as he slowly, silently, pushed open a back door. A sudden movement had him shoving the door open and raising his weapon. It took him a full three seconds to realize what he was looking at as the tiny sentient fell backward and scrambled away in fear. The child, no older than five standard, stared up at him with wide eyes. Tears made tracks through the dirt caked onto his skin as scraggly pale hair plastered to his forehead. What shocked him wasn't the fact that he'd found a child in this mess. No, they'd found and rescued enough children whose parents had hid them from danger that he was used to seeing them on the battlefield. It was the two very different colored eyes looking up at him that gave him pause. Their right eye was a medium green, like leaves on a summer day, while their left eye was a brilliant blue that reminded him of tropical waters. Lowering his weapon he slowly knelt on the ground, setting it down within reach. The child watched him, shivering and quiet, as he reached up and slipped his helmet off.

"Hey there. I'm Lawrence. Don't worry, I'm one of the good guys." The child remained quiet but there was less of a sense of urgency around them now. "Why don't we get out of here, hm?" Slowly the child nodded and Lawrence let out a small sigh of relief. Sometimes the kids were too young to understand and they had to get Chagris to tranquilize them, which he always hated doing. The kids always woke up more freaked out after they knocked them out and took them to safety.

"Can you stand up?" The child blinked at him and clumsily tried to get to their feet. They let out a low, pained, noise and sat back down, tears gathering at the corners of their eyes. That was when he noticed the blood on the child's pant leg. "Hey, it's okay." He soothed gently. "Can I pick you up?" There was a small look of fear and apprehension on the child's face before they tentatively lifted their arms in a near universal gesture. Up. Chuckling he lifted the child into his arms and settled them on his hip before retrieving his weapon.

By the time he made it out he'd already commed his squad medic. Chagris was waiting for him when they emerged into the street. The man was no-nonsense but gentle as he peeled the child's pant leg away from the wound and bit out a nasty curse in Ryl. The child shied away, hiding his face against Lawrence's armor. "He'll require stitches, and a couple of nutritional meals. Maybe some supplements." Lawrence shared a look with Levett.

"He?" The child was quite small and slender, almost petite. With the longer hair Lawrence would have put his money on them being a girl at first glance.

"Yes, he. The scanner doesn't lie." Chagris waved it in a clear show of agitation. Levett just shrugged, not interested in tangling with their surly medic.

"Alright then, little guy, can you tell us your name?" He brushed some of the boy's dirty blonde hair away from his face and smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. The child looked at him before opening his mouth. He closed it almost immediately and frowned as if in pain. He shook his head and hid against Lawrence's armor again. He let the kid hide, tucking him closer to his side, and shared a look with Chagris. A lot of children reacted to trauma differently. If they needed his name they could always get it later after the shock had worn off.

"I'll get him to the evac shuttle." Carefully handing the boy over to the medic he motioned for Levett to guard his back and commed the rest of the squad.

In the end the little boy was the sole survivor they found in that blasted hellhole. Claw was ambushed on the outskirts and had to be saved by Spear, again.

Entering the med tent later, after giving his full report, he spied Chagris sitting next to a bed and hurried over. Imagine his shock when the boy's hair turned out to be a lot lighter than he first thought. It was almost white as snow. "It took ages to get all the dirt off. Looks like he took a few nasty spills trying to run away. The shock and cold rain wasn't very good for his health either, he had a fever." Lawrence looked down at the child and swallowed hard. It always struck him just how small and helpless the children they saved were. The stark difference between the boy in the clinic and the boy sleeping here almost peacefully was like night and day.

"I know that look, Sarge. You can't keep him." He let out a scoff at the ongoing joke his squad had latched onto and shooed his medic out of the chair.

"Go, take a break. I'll come get you if he wakes up." The man shot him a nasty glare but sighed and complied with the order.

Taking the seat the medic had vacated he watched the child sleeping and his expression softened. "Don't worry little guy, you're safe now. We've got you."


End file.
